“We thank God her eye was spared,” said Higgins’ mother, who asked not to be named. “That thing went just like an arrow right to her, just an inch more, and it could have been her eye.”

The puck opened a 1½-inch bone-deep gash extending from the bridge of her nose through her right eyebrow. It required “a ton of internal and external stiches” from a plastic surgeon but did not cause any internal damage, Caitlin Higgins said.

Look on the bright side, Dr. Higgins: If you can’t grow a playoff beard, at least get cut like a hockey player #BecauseItsTheCup.